Three Rivers Project - Interim Report

Table of

Contents
INTRODUCTION PART ONE
MONITORING STRATEGIES Introduction Three Rivers Monitoring Systems Efficacy of current Monitoring Systems Future Monitoring Strategies 6 6 6 9 10 2

PART TWO
DEVELOPMENT OF MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES Introduction Strategies for reducing Pollution from Diffuse Sources Strategies for reducing Pollution from Point Sources Response to proposed Management Strategies Additional Work Forestry Catchments GIS-Catchment Envisage Public Awarness Campaign Summary of Strategies 12 12 13 32 33 35 35 37 37 39

PART THREE
WATER QUALITY Introduction Boyne Catchment Liffey Catchment Suir Catchment Summary 42 42 42 45 49 52

PART FOUR
TASK FOR YEAR 3 54
Maps reproduced with the kind permission of the Ordnance Survey of Ireland

Three Rivers Project - Interim Report

Introduction
What is The Three Rivers Project ?
BOYNE
The Three Rivers Project is a Government initiative to develop catchment based water quality monitoring and management systems for the Boyne, Liffey and Suir rivers. This three year project is sponsored by the Department of the Environment and Local Government and by the constituent Local Authorities, with support from the European Union Cohesion Fund (85%). The project is being carried out on behalf of the Government by a group of consultants led by M.C. O'Sullivan and Co. Ltd, in collaboration with catchment co-ordinators, under the guidance of a single steering committee and three Operational Management Groups.

LIFFEY

SUIR

This Report marks the completion of year two of the project.

Three Rivers Project - Interim Report

Problems with water Project Objective quality

Water quality in Irish lakes and rivers has been deteriorating on a national scale over the past 30 years due to increasing levels of slight to moderate pollution. This increase in pollution is mainly due to over-enrichment of our streams and rivers by nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen and is reflected in the water quality of the rivers Boyne, Liffey and Suir. It is the objective of the Three Rivers Project, and other similar catchment management projects, to reverse this trend of deteriorating water quality by developing management strategies for the river catchments as a whole which reflect a cross sectoral approach to reducing organic and nutrient inputs to the river. Management strategies are being developed by the project to tackle: sPoint Source Pollution - Primarily pipe discharges form wastewater treatment plants and from industry. sDiffuse Source Pollution - Primarily run-off associated with land use such as agriculture, forestry or urban development. Because of the difficulty of pin pointing the locations of discharges from farmyards, septic tanks used by unsewered populations and urban drains, these sources of pollution are considered as contributing to diffuse pollution. Monitoring systems, comprising of hydrometric, physico-chemical and biological elements have been established to monitor water quality on an ongoing basis and to audit the future success of management strategies. A Geographical Information System (GIS) "Catchment Envisage", is being developed to integrate and manage data generated by these monitoring systems and current monitoring programmes operated by the Waters capable of Local Authorities and the sustaining healthy salmonid EPA (Environmental (salmon and trout) Protection Agency). populations are generally Catchment Envisage will of a high quality and are also facilitate the updating suitable for all beneficial uses. of management strategies on an ongoing basis to target specific catchment areas or sectors contributing significant pollution loads to the river systems. A public awareness campaign is also being implemented in the catchments, the primary aim of which is to inform all sectors of the community about their responsibility in preventing water pollution.
3

It is the aim of The Three Rivers Project to restore the waters of the Boyne, Liffey and Suir to good ecological status, suitable for all beneficial uses.

These nutrients enter our watercourses either as point source discharges emanating from sewage treatment plants, and industrial installations or as diffuse source discharges from activities such as agriculture and forestry or from urban drainage. Over-enrichment, referred to as eutrophication, can result in excessive growth of aquatic plants which choke waterways and deplete oxygen resources required for the survival of fish and other aquatic species. The presence of healthy salmonid (salmon and trout) populations in a waterway is a good indication of a healthy aquatic ecosystem suitable for beneficial uses such as water abstraction and amenity activities.

Three Rivers Project - Interim Report

Year 1
The Preliminary and Baseline Reports published in March 2000 detail the work carried out in the initial year of the project. The first step in developing strategies to alleviate any problem is to quantify the problem and identify factors contributing to it. Thus Year 1 of the project focused on: sestablishing the baseline water quality conditions in each catchment sidentifying sources of nutrient input to the river system (both point and diffuse) sdeveloping preliminary management strategies to tackle pollution sources sselecting appropriate study areas in which to test the practicality and effect of these strategies sdeveloping a preliminary methodology for identify risk areas in terms of pollution generation sdesigning and implementing a comprehensive monitoring system in each of the catchments sestablishing dedicated project laboratories at Clonmel (Suir) and Trim (Boyne and Liffey) screating public awareness of the new co-operative approach. Monitoring strategies for quantifying nutrient loadings from identifiable point sources such as wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) and industrial discharges were proposed to Local Authorities. A review of permissible loads and concentrations from licensed discharges and WWTPs, in relation to current quality and water quality objectives (QOs) in receiving waters, was also proposed. Progress to date by Local Authorities in implementing these strategies is reviewed in Part 2 of this report.

assessment of the effectiveness of these strategies can be carried out by the end of Year 3. Considerable field resources have been allocated to developing nutrient management plans with a total of 211 farmers participating in the project's three agricultural Pilot Study Areas. In addition to the overall catchment monitoring systems, intensive monitoring systems have been designed and implemented in five pilot study areas. These include the three agricultural pilot areas mentioned above and two pilot areas selected to study the impact of urban drainage and forestry activities on the nutrient status of adjacent waterways. Weekly grab sampling has been augmented by the installation of automatic water samplers at key locations in each catchment, typically sampling at hourly intervals. On-going implementation of the monitoring systems is currently generating more than 1,000 water samples a month over the three catchments. The Local Authorities and the EPA have also put significant effort into installing and upgrading the hydrometric networks during Year 2.

Year 3
In Year 3 the focus of the project will be on continuing these initiatives and will extend to developing and implementing management strategies for other sectors such as industry and populations on septic tanks. Comprehensive analysis and interpretation of monitoring data will be carried out to: sestablish relationships between land-use activities and resultant water quality sidentify risk areas in terms of pollution generation sestablish methods of focusing management resources in order to achieve the best improvement in water quality in the coming years. In addition, work will continue on: senhancing the public awareness campaigns scommissioning Catchment Envisage and appointing two GIS Managers.

Year 2
This current report focuses on the work carried out in Year 2 of the project. This work has primarily concentrated on further developing management strategies for the agricultural sector and implementing the monitoring systems so that some

A major focus of Year Two of the project has been on implementing strategies to control pollution from agriculture.